General Course Information Syllabus Planning & Marketing Healthcare Services Course ID: 32-527 Instructor: Jennifer Driscoll E-Mail Address (for use when Blackboard is down): jennifer_driscoll@uml.edu Course Description The history, principles, techniques, and methodologies of health services planning and marketing are studied and students learn how to plan for new or changed health services, programs, or facilities. The functions of the health planner, managers, providers, and governing boards are presented. Practical approaches to health care problems are studied using case analysis of actual healthcare projects and programs. By the end of this course, you should: 1. Be able to apply concepts learned to the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of a healthcare programs or services 2. Have experience in developing, reviewing, and analyzing healthcare program plans 3. Improve your management and leadership capabilities in the areas of program and service line planning Course Materials: Required books Moseley, George B. III. (2009). Managing Health Care Business Strategy. Jones and Bartlett, Sudbury, MA. Ries Al and Jack Trout. (2001). Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing; ISBN: 0071373586 Course Materials Release Day Each "week" of this course typically begins on a Monday, and ends on a Sunday, except for Week 1 of this course, which runs from Tuesday, May 20, 2014 through Sunday May 25, 2014. This first week a short week, running for 6 days. After that, weeks 2 10 will run for 7 days each, from Monday through Sunday. The course calendar at the end of this syllabus provides additional details with regards to the course schedule. Assignment Guidelines Readings: Each week you will have readings, regardless of whether we meet face-to-face or online. I have included the textbook readings in the Course Calendar. I will also post other supplemental readings (recent articles, web sites, etc.) in the weekly learning modules on Blackboard, please be sure to look online each week for a complete list of reading assignments. Discussion Board: For each online week, I will assign one or more discussion questions based on that week s readings. You will need to type and post your responses to the class Discussion Board by the due date. These postings will be available for review and comment by the entire class, including the instructor. Subject: When posting on the discussion board, always use an informative subject line for your postings. Even if the subject is the thread topic, say something about what you are
saying specifically. For example: My experience in the Oncology world or Joe is right about the nature of physicians Do not just use a person s name, or a generic term such as Agree or Re by itself. References: You should reference all material that is not your original work in discussion board postings. You do not have to use a formal reference format (as you do for your other assignments), but please reference your work, otherwise it is plagiarism. Evaluation: discussion board postings will generally be due within one week of release (Sunday). Due dates are posted with each discussion question. In the interest of providing ongoing feedback, I will be evaulating each of your online assignments, using the following scale. 0 No posting by due date; Plagiarized answer 1-2 Substantially incomplete with unduly short mechanical answers not reflecting independent thought or analysis 3 4 Somewhat incomplete or not fully responsive to the case issues or the study questions 5 Fully complete, comprehensive and thoughtful answers to all questions Class Participation: I designed this course to be a seminar/discussion and class participation is an important component. Therefore, I expect you to prepare carefully for class and online discussions, completing all assigned readings, postings, and assignments prior to our time in class or online. I will judge your participation on your degree of preparedness for and involvement in classroom and online sessions and postings. The success of a discussion-based course depends to a significant extent on the quality and thoroughness of your preparation, especially with respect to discussion questions and cases, but not to the exclusion of textbook assignments and articles. I expect you to come to class prepared for discussion. Adequate preparation goes considerably beyond reading the material. Written Assignments: Students will submit two complete written case studies. I will post detailed instructions for writing a Case Study under Syllabus, Guidelines & Other Notes on the Blackboard homepage. All students must read and be prepared to discuss all assigned Case Studies. However, you are only required to submit two written cases. Evaluation Discussion Board Postings 20% Participation in in person Classes 30% Case Studies 50% Attendance: Students are required to attend all classes and to arrive at all classes on time (whether we meet face-to-face or online). In the case of an emergency, students are expected to notify instructor of an absence ahead of time if possible. Because of the importance of attendance, more than two absences from the online class, and one absence from the face-to-face class, may result in a lowering of your grade for the course
Your final course letter grade will be determined as follows: Numeric Grade: Letter Grade: 94-100 A 90-93 A- 87-89 B+ 84-86 B 80-83 B- 77-79 C+ 74-76 C 70-73 C- 67-69 D+ 64-66 D 0-63 F Make Up Policy See Instructor if you are unable to complete assignments by the due date to discuss making up assignments. Interaction Guidelines In Person Classes The course is a blended course. The class will meet face-to-face six times during the semester and online four times during the semester (see Course Calendar below for dates). Online Classes (Chat Blackboard Collaborate Web Conferencing) For this course, chat will take place on Tuesday evenings according to the dates the Course Calendar indicates we will meet online. The online classes are "real time" classes conducted through chat. Blackboard Collaborate has audio and video capabilities. You may choose to join using a headset and microphone, or a telephone. Please click on Chat on the course menu and enter the Chat room to test it out before our first online class to make sure your computer is set up correctly. Weekly Modules Each week I will release a new Learning Module on Monday for the upcoming week. Each Learning Module will include The Week Ahead to tell you what we will do during the week, as well as supplemental reading assignments. Discussion Board The Discussion Board will include weekly questions in line with the reading assignments. The instructor and other students will comment on your discussion board posts. Q&A Forum - There is also a discussion board titled Q&A Forum. Please post all course related questions to the Q&A Forum and I will answer them within 24 hours from Monday through Friday at 4PM. Please do not mail (through Blackboard) or email me your questions (unless they are personal), because chances are if you have a question related to Blackboard and/or the course material, someone else has the same question and I d rather answer the question once and other students may benefit from reading your question, and subsequent answer. Also, feel free to respond to one another s questions, there is no need to wait for me! This is the best thing about a blended course (other than avoiding the commute).
Mail Please use My Messages for private questions directed to the instructor, that you do not wish to share with the class. All other questions can be posted to the Q&A Forum on the Discussion Board. In emergency situations, only when Blackboard is down, you may email me outside of Blackboard at: Jennifer_Driscoll@uml.edu Netiquette Netiquette stands for Network Etiquette. It refers to proper behavior while interacting online. The golden rule of netiquette is essentially to treat people as you would want to be treated. Please be polite and considerate. Think about whether your comment could cause hurt feelings. Be careful about how your words can come across because misunderstandings can be common online. Feel free to use emoticons to show your tone. Academic Integrity Policy UMass Lowell Online students are expected to be honest and to respect ethical standards in meeting academic assignments and requirements. A student who cheats on an examination or assignment is subject to administrative dismissal. Please visit the Academic Integrity Web site for specific details regarding this policy. Student Disability Services UMass Lowell Online students requiring academic accommodations should contact Student Disability Services for assistance. Course Calendar DATE TOPIC ASSIGNMENTS May 20, 2014 Basic Planning Concepts Moseley Ch 1 May 27, 2014 June 3, 2014 June 10, 2014 SWOT Analyses Internal Environment Resources, Data & Tools External Environment General Environment Healthcare Environment Service Area Competitors Moseley Ch 2 Moseley Ch 3-5 Case Study 1 Due
June 17, 2014 Guiding Principles Moseley Ch 6 Defining Future Direction Planning Context Mission, Vision, Values, Objectives June 24, 2014 Developing Alternatives Moseley Ch 7 July 1, 2014 Choosing Alternatives Moseley Ch 8 July 8, 2014 Positioning Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind Entire Book July 15, 2014 Implementing Strategies Moseley Ch 9 Action Plans Communicating the Strategy Implementation Challenges July 22, 2014 Monitoring & Redirecting Monitoring Revision & Re-planning Moseley Ch 10 & 11 Case Study 2 Due